First Nations get new City of Vancouver exemptions for housing building fees

First Nations to get new City of Vancouver exemptions for affordable housing building fees

December 2023 conceptual artistic rendering of the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

New changes to legislation that govern the City of Vancouver will provide financial relief for First Nations spearheading the construction of social housing projects.

The Government of British Columbia announced today it will enact amendments to the Vancouver Charter to recognize First Nations as a level of government that qualifies for exemptions from the City of Vancouver’s development cost levies (DCLs) and amenity cost charges for social housing projects.

DCLs on new construction help fund the cost of municipal infrastructure, such as public parks, childcare facilities, new affordable housing, utilities, and roads, while amenity cost charges also support the infrastructure needs of growing communities.

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It should be emphasized that such exemptions will only be provided for social housing projects built on First Nations-owned land under freehold ownership within Vancouver.

The changes would not apply to projects such as Senakw, which is on the reserve of the Squamish Nation and did not require municipal approval to proceed, but it would provide exemptions for projects such as the Heather Lands and Jericho Lands redevelopments by the MST Development Corporation.

MST Development is the for-profit real estate development company jointly owned by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Both the Heather Lands and Jericho Lands are freehold properties acquired by three First Nations in partnership with federal crown corporation Canada Lands Company.

The provincial government states that legislative changes will provide exemptions to both First Nations and First Nations corporations in the same way as the existing exemptions provided to federal and provincial governments, the City, and non-profit organizations.

According to the provincial government, its rationale for the move is because the upcoming projects by the First Nations — neighbourhood-sized, high-density redevelopments that will be some of Vancouver’s largest upcoming projects — will generate significant housing.

“Local First Nations have the potential to be a significant supplier of housing. This amendment is intended to reduce costs for First Nations and create opportunities for development, including new social housing,” reads a bulletin by the BC Ministry of Municipal Affairs today.

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Artistic rendering of the Heather Lands redevelopment, Vancouver. (Dialog/Canada Lands Company/MST Development Corporation)

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December 2023 conceptual artistic rendering of the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

For instance, the 21-acre redevelopment of the Heather Lands — the former BC RCMP headquarters just west of Queen Elizabeth Park — will generate 2,600 homes, including 540 social housing units. Under the June 2022-approved rezoning, MST Development will provide the City with a total of about $58 million in DCLs, but with the new exemptions, the social housing component in the DCLs will be waived.

There would also be zero DCLs for the significant social housing component of the Jericho Lands redevelopment in West Point Grey. In January 2024, Vancouver City Council approved the policy statement master plan for the Jericho Lands, which will guide the redevelopment’s future rezoning applications. The Jericho Lands will be a mixed-use, high-density district with about 13,000 homes accommodating 24,000 residents, including 2,600 social housing units. The DCLs for the project’s social housing uses will be zero.

Another major First Nations project the new DCLs exemption would apply to is the future redevelopment of the former BC Liquor Distribution Branch warehouse at 3200 East Broadway and 2625 Rupert Station, but only if there is a social housing component in the anticipated mixed-use, high-density project. This future 10-acre redevelopment next to SkyTrain Rupert Station is a partnership between MST Development Corporation and Aquilini Investment Group.

Various other amendments to the Vancouver Charter relating to housing and the Park Board are also anticipated.

Last week, Premier David Eby confirmed the provincial government would dissolve the Vancouver Park Board’s elected body through upcoming legislative changes to the Vancouver Charter by removing the requirement that there be a separately elected body governing parks and recreation. Instead, as moved by Mayor Ken Sim, the responsibilities will be transferred to the Mayor’s Office and City Council. However, the amendments are expected to be made in the next legislative session, which would mean after the October 2024 provincial election.

Furthermore, early this month, the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations formally jointly announced their support to dissolve the Park Board’s elected body, provided that the Vancouver Charter will also be amended to align with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the requirements of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

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